Biology

Physiology

Zekrom is a bipedal Pokémon of dragon- and dinosaur-like basis. Zekrom is mainly a shade of black and a darker gray, with darker patches on various portions of its body. It has red scleras, white irises and black pupils, as well as a small horn-like protrusion on the tip of its snout. Its head sports a thundercloud-like crest tipped with light-blue coloration. At the base of its neck is a black, stud-like feature, and atop its shoulders are similar, larger features resembling armor padding. The bases of its wings also have such padding, and a fanned, splayed, seemingly webbed shape with a small "wing-spike" on one edge. The lower length of Zekrom's arms extenuate into splayed, seemingly webbed, somewhat baseball-mitt-like formations, with three-clawed, dark-colored hands on the undersides. The front portion of Zekrom's waist is black-colored, with its belly and thighs having thin striations down their length. Its knees are black, as are the foremost parts of its three-clawed feet and spiked heels. Zekrom's tail consists of large, round, conical and spiked formation, likened to an electricity generator, with a black inner portion and bands on the tip of the outside portion.

Gender differences

Zekrom is a genderless species.

Zekrom's tail turbine activated.

Special abilities

Zekrom's tail contains a generator that produces energy for its Electric-based attacks and emits a sort of anti-gravity field which enables it to float and fly through the skies with minimal effects from aerodynamic resistance and the planet's gravity. It can also cause several thunderstorms in one area. Zekrom is the only Pokémon that can learn Fusion Bolt and Bolt Strike, although several event Victini can have both these moves and Kyurem can learn the former by merging with Zekrom.

Behavior

In a Unova myth about the twin heroes, as Zekrom sided with the younger brother who sought for ideals, it firmly believes in ideals.

Trivia

Reshiram and Zekrom at Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in 2010

Zekrom was first revealed simultaneously alongside Reshiram on both the official English and Japanese Pokémon websites on May 28, 2010. This makes them the first two Pokémon simultaneously revealed worldwide.

On May 31, 2010, two weeks prior to the official revelation of Zekrom's type, Shōko Nakagawa spoke about her love of Electric-type Pokémon on her blog and mentioned that because of that, she wanted to get a Zekrom. This statement was then quickly removed.

Zekrom is required to be caught in Pokémon White in order to progress on the story and battle N. Running away from it or defeating it will appear as if nothing happened; also, defeating it does not give any experience points. It and Reshiram are the only legendary Pokémon in the main series games that are required to be caught to progress the story. However, it does not have to be caught if the player has a full party and PC. Instead, it will later appear at Dragonspiral Tower (but it still does not give any experience points if it is defeated).

When met in N's Castle in Pokémon White, instead of saying A wild <Pokémon> appeared! it will simply say Zekrom appeared!

Origin

Zekrom and its counterpart Reshiram are based on the concept of yin and yang in Taoism, directly referenced by Zekrom's Japanese species: the Black Yin Pokémon. According to Ken Sugimori, Zekrom was designed to have a tougher and more manly look to contrast to Reshiram's light, airy, ladylike design. Its tail, the center point of its design, is based on an electric turbine.[1] Appearance wise, it somewhat resembles a midsized to large theropod dinosaur, such as Allosaurus or Tyrannosaurus, and a European dragon. The crest on its head is a reference to thunderclouds. The mythology about how Zekrom and Reshiram came about, regarding two brothers infighting, also bears some similarities to Romulus and Remus or Cain and Abel. There is also some resemblance to the Zoroastrian belief of two equally powerful deities, one representing light and truth and the other representing lies and darkness. In this case, Zekrom can be taken to resemble Angra Mainyu, as opposed to Reshiram resembling Ahura Mazda, although Zekrom is not evil, just an equally powerful opposing legendary Pokémon.

Name origin

Zekrom is derived from 黒 kuro (black). Ken Sugimori has also stated that Ze was used because it was a harder, stronger sound than Reshiram's Re, and Zekrom is a "powerful, strong character."[2]